Teach Me to Pray - Week #7

Chapter four of Teach Me to Pray is "The Model Prayer", in which Murray gives an overview of the prayer of Jesus that we have come to know as "The Lord's Prayer."

He begins the chapter by saying, "...He (the teacher) not only tells the child what to do and how to do it but also shows him that it really can be done. In condescension to our weakness, our heavenly teacher has given us the very words to use as we draw near to our Father...It is a form of prayer that becomes the model and inspiration for all other prayer and yet always draws us back to itself as the deepest utterance of our souls before our God."

Some highlights from this chapter are the following observations by the author:
1. "'Our Father in heaven'...The invocation places us at once in the center of the wonderful revelation that the Son came to make the Father our Father...The words are key to the whole prayer; in fact, to all prayer...The knowledge of God's Father-love is the first and simplest - but also the last and highest - lesson in the school of prayer...In the infinite tenderness and pity and patience of the infinite Father, in His loving readiness to hear and to help, the life of prayer has its joy. Let us take time for the Spirit to make these words spirit and truth to us...: 'Our Father in heaven...' Here we are indeed within the veil, in the secret place of power where prayer always prevails." Once again Andrew Murray emphasizes the importance of a revelation of the tender Father heart of God if we are to experience effective prayer.

2. "'Hallowed be Your name.' While we ordinarily first bring our own needs to God in prayer, and then think of what belongs to God and His interests, the Master reverses the order...Your name, Your kingdom, Your will...In true worship the Father must be first, must be all."

3. "'Hallowed be Your name.'What name? The name Father...But how is the name to be hallowed? By God. (Ez. 36:23)...The Spirit of the Father is the Holy Spirit. Only when we yield ourselves to be led by Him, will His name be hallowed in our prayers and in our lives."

4. "'Your kingdom come.' The Father is a king and has a kingdom...The coming of the kingdom is the one great event on which the revelation of the Father's glory, the blessedness of His children, and the salvation of the world depends. The coming of the kingdom waits on our prayers."

5. "'Your will be done.' ...Surrender to and prayer for a life of heaven-like obedience is the spirit of childlike prayer."

6. "'Give us this day our daily bread.' ...A master provides food for his servants, a general for his soldiers, a father for his child. Will not the Father in heaven provide for the child who has in prayer given himself up to His interests?"

7. "'And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.' ...We are children, but we are also sinners. We owe our right of access to the Father's presence to the precious blood of Christ...Let us be careful that the prayer of forgiveness does not become a mere formality. Only what is truly confessed is truly forgiven. Let us in faith accept the forgiveness that is promised as a spiritual reality and an actual transaction between God and us...Such forgiveness as a living experience is impossible without a forgiving spirit toward others...When I pray, I must be able to say that I know of no one whom I do not sincerely love."

8. "'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' ...The prayer for bread and pardon must be accompanied by the total surrender to live in holy obedience to the Father's will and by believing prayer to be kept in everything from the power of the Evil One by the power of the indwelling Spirit."

Murray ends the chapter with the admonition to let this prayer of Jesus guide us to the true child-life in which the Father is all to and for the child.

I would like to suggest that the "Lord's Prayer" is a concise version of the Psalms. Some Bible students have said that the Psalms was Jesus' prayer book by which He learned to pray. If that is so, then it would make sense that the model prayer He gives us in Matthew 6 would contain in summary form all that the Psalms has in prayer. I include this thought as an encouragement to go to the Psalms (as well as this model prayer) for language in prayer. In the journey into prayer, the Psalms provide us with prayers that are filled with worship of God and that cover the gamut of human experience.

Lord, thank You that you help us to pray; thank You that You know so well our need for practical help in prayer and have given us a whole book of prayers in the Scriptures! Teach us to pray, "Our Father..." Jesus, reveal the Father-love of God to us more and more so that we gain His viewpoint and thereby make our personal requests in the context of His greatness and His kingdom..."Blessed Lord, we are your students. We trust you. Teach us to pray. Amen."